December 21, 2023 | 5:39pm
MANILA, Philippines – An avid Simone Biles fan in Clarysse De Matta Escoses made heads turn for a three-gold medal harvest as reigning champion Baguio City and Cebu City engaged in a neck-to-neck race for the overall championship in the penultimate day of the 2023 Batang Pinoy national finals at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Biñan City’s Escoses, daughter of former national shuttler Lloyd, bounced and twisted her way to golds in the uneven bars (8.25), balance beam (10.55) and individual all-around (40.35) of the women’s artistic gymnastics FIG junior for the biggest haul in Day 4 of the competition here.
She followed the lead of Manila’s Karl Eldrew Yulo, brother of world champion Caloy, and San Juan’s Maria Celina Angela Gonzales with seven and four gold medals, respectively, as the most bemedaled gymnast in Batang Pinoy.
Another Caloy sibling in Elaiza Andriel Yulo of Manila also made her own name in the same event by winning the FIG junior’s vault (12) and floor exercise (11.3) for two gold medals.
“It feels very exciting and something unexpected because I was competing against the whole Philippines. All the hard work and effort I put into this paid off. The feeling is surreal,” said Llya, accompanied by her father and her mother Lynne.
Llya, 15, said she drew inspiration from no less than her dad, now a badminton coach after a decorated national team career with hopes of representing the country in international competitions soon.
“One of my biggest idols and inspirations is my dad. I hope to also be like him,” added the national junior training pool member, who trains with Learn And Train Sports Academy in Makati but represents her hometown Biñan.
Escoses already had a chance to strut her stuff in Singapore and Thailand invitationals with an upcoming stint in Hong Kong in January but the ultimate goal is donning national colors in the SEA Games, Asian Games and the Olympics — like her idol.
“I really hope I would be as near as where Simone is right now,” she beamed.
As different budding stars continued to flash brilliance, three-peat titlist Baguio met a strong challenger in Cebu City in the medal race with similar tally of 17 gold medals entering the final day of the multi-sport grassroots program of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
Baguio (17-16-28) leaned on the three-gold medal haul in archery courtesy of Chass Mhaiven Nawew Colas (male 15-under 30-meter and 40-meter recurve) and Alon Yuan Jucutan (male 18-under 720-round compound) to reclaim the upperhand after Cebu (17-14-19) roared on Wednesday afternoon for the momentarily lead.
The Summer Capital had its previous haul in combat sports with six golds in taekwondo, four in muay thai and three in judo as Cebu, thanks to gold rush in weightlifting, gymnastics and karatedo stayed within striking distance in a bid to unseat its rival.
Davao City (16-14-12), Pasig (15-17-23) and Mandaluyong (14-7-11) completed the Top 5 but Baguio and Cebu are set for an exciting clincher with multiple finalists in the remaining combat sports led by boxing as well as in chess and athletics among the few.
